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Pompeii Collapse Prompts Charges of Official Neglect

ROME (Reuters) - Archaeologists, commentators and opposition politicians accused Italy's government of neglect and mismanagement on Sunday over the collapse the 2,000-year-old "House of the Gladiators" in the ruins of ancient Pompeii.

Some commentators said the UNESCO World Heritage site should be privatized and removed from state control because the government had shown it was incapable of protecting it.

"Pompeii -- the collapse of shame," La Stampa newspaper headlined, echoing national opinion over the cultural disaster.

The stone house, on one of the site's main streets and measuring about 80 square meters (860 square ft), collapsed just after dawn on Saturday while Pompeii was closed to visitors....
Read entire article at Reuters